Keeping in touch the old fashioned way: cork bulletin boards
Keeping in touch the old fashioned way: cork bulletin boards offer communication solutions!Sometimes, too much cyberspace and all the gadgetry we now use on a daily basis can end up taking a big bite out of the face-to-face communication cycle. You text your friends, use your cell for everything, post in chat rooms ... don't you sometimes miss those little scribbled notes from the kids, 'went to Maria's back by 6, love U'? So cute, in her 10-year old handwriting.
These little human touches are becoming a thing of the past. When I was a kid and we won't talk about how long ago that was - ! - the cork bulletin boards were major communication centers, found everywhere. Our family had one in our kitchen, tacked full of appointment cards for the doctor or dentist, our latest school pictures, silly little notes, cryptic reminders 'clean oven', the current grocery list, and such.
These cork bulletin boards do still have a place in our households, classrooms and small community settings, serving as an efficient method to advertise goods for sale or trade, the upcoming church bake sale and other such impromptu events, directed at a local audience. In the classroom, teachers can put these boards to good use, posting special awards, gold stars for work well done and photos contributed by students. Small retail shops can use cork bulletin boards to create a sense of community among their patrons. In the brick and mortar environment, just as on a website, anything that encourages a potential customer to stop and browse for a few minutes is a good thing for sales.
If you're selling cords of wood, or tickets to a local concert, posting on the local cork bulletin boards outside the supermarket will catch the eyes of a far greater number of interested parties than computer venues or hi-tech gadgets!
In the home, cork bulletin boards can serve as a home message center, as well as a decorative item. These inexpensive board are usually trimmed with unfinished wood, begging to be decorated and personalized. If you're hanging it in the family room or kitchen, you can simply paint the wood in a color that matches your dcor. You can also use a color-coded system of post-its and push-pins, with a color for each family member, to make it easy to spot new 'messages'.
If you use cork bulletin boards, hung in the kids room, to keep track of homework assignments and chore lists, let the kids 'own' the project of decorating. Stickers, magnets, small seashells or bits of ribbon and trim make an attractive board, which they will be more inclined to look at on a daily basis.
While we love cyberspace and all our gadgets, cork bulletin boards offer an old-fashioned solution to local communication, with that touch of humanity that's slowly, but surely, drifting away. BTW, I still have a cork bulletin board in my kitchen, that's both practical and nostalgic.
